Today, I went to Arby’s for lunch. Got a combo. With tax, the total came to $7.01. Of course, I didn’t have the penny. Gave the pimply-faced teenager a $10 bill, and got exactly $2.99 back, thank you very much.
Questions:
Why the hell don’t fast food chains set their prices to come out at an even dollar, if it’s that close?
Why the hell can’t you just give me back $3.00 if I don’t have the freaking penny?
Is that shit really roast beef, or is it something else?
The penny should be outlawed. Why not round to a nickle? We already round to the penny (with sales tax being 8.75%, many transactions will technically involve a fraction of a cent).
Starting tomorrow, every business can legally round to a nickle. Pennies will be legal tender for, oh, 12 more months. A massive boost to the economy ensues, as nationwide, sock drawers full of pennies that haven’t seen the light of day since the Nixon administration are put back into circulation for a last glorious day. Trouser makers are upset, as less change being carried in the pockets of the nation make pants pockets last that much longer, but other than that, everyone is joyful. sigh As yet, 'tis but a dream . . .
Naah, personally, I couldn’t care less…If my change is $3.02, I tell the person behind the counter not to bother with the pennies.
I’m just wondering about consistency. For instance, my dad’ll bitch and moan if he gets a pocket full o’change, but not as loud as if he gets shorted a little. “It’s not the money, it’s the principle of the thing!” (Bullshit. It’s the money. :D)
Having, in the past, worked at Arby’s, I can tell you that while I’m not sure it’s all, you know, prime cut beef or anything, I’m pretty sure it does all come from a cow. And it really is roasted for 3 hours! Wow!
Maybe I have a friendly face or something, but nearly every time I’m short like a penny, the cashier either tells me not to worry or finds a penny that’s been laying on the counter all day or takes it out of their own pocket. Sometimes though, I get people like the one you got who will happily give you back $.98 rather than have their drawer be short two cents. When that happens, ah well. Laundry money.
I love change. I never spend it, and every time I walk past my fishbowl, I toss it in. I usually have enough at the end of the month for greens fees and a couple of beers.
This why I really love the sports card store I shop at. The guy there will often round up by as much as a dime (Like taking $10 for $10.08 or giving me a buck instead of 92 cents). But then again, maybe it’s because he recognizes me since I spend so much time and money there.
In Australia, where i’m from, we used to have 1c and 2c coins, but they were done away with some time ago. Now, all prices are rounded up or down to the nearest 5c.
So, if your total comes to $1.95, 1.96, or 1.97, you pay $1.95.
And if it comes to $1.98, 1.99, or 2.00, you pay $2.00.
Also, the error incurred by rounding up or down is not cumulative. If you buy one item for 99c you pay $1.00, or 1c extra. And if you buy 3 items for 99c each, the total is $2.97, and you pay $2.95, or 2c less than the total. The most you can ever win or lose on any transaction is 2c.
Basically, it all evens out and virtually everyone i know in Australia loves the system.
The only purpose of the penny is to avoid getting more pennies. If that isn’t the definition of a denomination that needs to be phased out, I don’t know what is.
I used to feed some loose change into the till, and take out the equivalent in pennies, so as to be able to give people back round numbers if this should arise. It was worth the quarter per shift not to have to deal with them.
Sometimes the people at the 7-11 across the street from the church will give me the extra change. Let’s say I make a purchase of $5.91 and I give them $6; they’ll give me the dime instead of yet more pennies. (of course, the church people go there all the time, especially on weekends)
That said though, I do know that if they do that for everyone from the church that goes to the 7-11, they’ll end up being short a bunch of change themselves. So I try to remember to carry around extra change. (makes my wallet heavy at times, though)
Then again, I like using change sometimes. It’s not too bad.
Honey, that’s a whole different Pit rant. I actually had a discussion with my boss about this today. He claimed that whenever this is discussed seriously (and it is…it costs more to mint and circulate a penny then their face value) the state of Illinois always makes a stink. You know, because of Lincoln. I don’t know if he’s right, but…eh, it’s another thread.
As for the OP, I’d say tax is the answer to your problem. Some states round room and meals tax up to the next penny, and some don’t.
